Making a Female Game Character from Wax

Step 5 The Final Figure

This is pretty much the final step in the whole process. What you end up with is a painted prototype that will be used as a model for taking promotional photos and as a guide for the factory. Normally you make 2 or 3 painted copies because manufacturing can take several months so it is important to have a painted version you can use to start the selling process.

Once the wax base was completed (see previous entry) all that was left to do was the molding and casting of the individual parts. This process alone can take a several days or a couple of weeks or more depending on the number of pieces and complexity of the work. It is important to do a good job at this stage as the whole production can be ruined otherwise. Not to mention that all the sculpting work would go to waste as well if the molds don't replicate details properly.

Once all your pieces have been cast and cleaned it is then onto the painting stage. At this point in the process you have to make decisions on how to best paint the figure while still keeping it simple enough for reproduction, while at the same time, not compromising the quality of the figure. Paint can make or break even the best sculpture so it is very important to do a good job!

In order to paint the individual pieces they are mounted with small rods or "pins" on wooden blocks so that they can be handled without actually touching the pieces with your hands. As you can imagine that would create a big mess on wet paint, but also, the oil from your fingers could result in the paint not sticking and flaking off (paint doesn't stick well to oily surfaces!).

I like to use Games Workshop Citadel colours to paint my prototypes. The colours are vibrant and easily available not to mention of very good quality. Also the color range is quite large which can save time when it comes to mixing. Painting can take a few days depending on how complex the piece is. I believe Dirt took about 3 days to complete (including the base) or so with another day or two of assembly.

In the end I'm quite happy with how this figure turned out. Currently she is in the process of being manufactured so hopefully she will be ready for sale within the next couple of months.

From sculpture to finished prototype the whole process took approximately 12 -15 weeks to complete. I hope you enjoyed the making of this figure and that you may have discovered new insight into the work that goes into each statue and learned something in the process to use on your own figures!

If you would like to purchase a copy of this figure please visit her Ebay listing: "Dirt Statue"

Be sure to check out our website for more figures too: http://www.settifineart.com

Comments

[Vixen8387]

So awesome!! But do you have any photographic tutorials on how to actually do the wax and resin parts?? i have no idea how you do that from the sculpey figure O.o I would love to know!

[The Papier Boy]

+1

[EmmettO]

Thanks for the information on sculpting with wax. I have struggled with the time it takes building a wax sculpture from scratch. The intermediate stage of using sculpty is a revelation to me.

[rockv]

Master!!!